The End of Employer-Provided Health Insurance: Why It's Good for You and Your Company

Chapter 7When Can You Buy Individual Health Insurance?

Health insurance companies are now prohibited from denying coverage to people in the individual Health Insurance Marketplaces because of a pre-existing medical condition. But, there is a catch. You can only enroll in guaranteed-issue health insurance during limited annual or special enrollment periods defined by the federal government. The purpose of these enrollment periods is to control the cost to the government and insurance carriers—limiting the enrollment periods keeps you from waiting until you get sick to purchase health insurance.

Failure to purchase coverage during your enrollment period could result in you being forced to go without health insurance for a full year. Therefore, it is important that you understand how these enrollment periods work.

Specifically, there are two types of enrollment periods: (1) annual enrollment periods, and (2) special enrollment periods.

Annual Enrollment Period

The annual enrollment period begins on October 15th and extends through December 7th each year. Figure 7.1 shows that the 2015 annual enrollment period has been changed to extend from November 15, 2014, to February 15th, 2015. During this time, you can purchase any health insurance plan available on the individual market. If you fail to purchase health insurance coverage during the annual enrollment period, you will be unable to purchase coverage until the following year unless you qualify for a special enrollment period. ...